Psychedelic drugs show remarkable potential for treating psychiatric disorders, but the mechanisms underlying their therapeutic effects remain relatively unknown. Here, we demonstrate that psilocybin can powerfully ameliorate deficits in cognitive flexibility, but this effect depends on the specific circuit-level cause of those deficits. Using optogenetic mo...
Introduction and Objective.Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) remains a major clinical challenge affecting patients who fail to respond to at least two adequate antidepressant trials.The development of rapid-acting interventions targeting non-monoaminergic pathways has introduced new therapeutic possibilities.The aim of the review is to critically examine ...
The past two decades have seen a remarkable renaissance in research on psychedelic drugs and ketamine. Following decades of regulatory restriction that severely limited, especially clinical research, a growing body of evidence has shown that psychedelics such as lysergic acid diethylamide and psilocybin can have long-lasting beneficial effects for treatment-...
Serotonergic psychedelics are re-emerging as therapeutic candidates across psychiatry, particularly for treatment-resistant depression. Their rapid and sustained antidepressant effects, alongside evidence for neuroplastic, dopaminergic, and glutamatergic modulation, have prompted interest in whether they could address depressive and negative symptoms in schi...
Neuroplasticity refers to the ability of the brain to modify synaptic connections and reorganize neural circuits, underpinning cognitive function, emotional regulation, and recovery from injury. Recent advances have redefined adult neuroplasticity as more dynamic and therapeutically accessible than previously thought, spurring investigation into pharmacologi...
The goal of this open-label, dose-escalation, prospective study is to evaluate the safety and psychological effects of a Psilocybin and D-Serine formulation in healthy volunteers. The main objectives are: 1. To assess the psychological and physiological effects of psilocybin administered with D-Serine in healthy adults. 2. To determine whether D-Serine modul...
INTRODUCTION: Sertonergic psychedelics LSD, psilocin and DMT, have been shown to hold a great potential for treatment of various neuropsychiatric conditions, such as major depressive disorder, addiction, and end-of-life anxiety. Effects of these substances on neuronal activity and plasticity have been demonstrated, however, better understanding of their mech...
Major depressive disorder (MDD) continues to pose a major therapeutic challenge due to its clinical heterogeneity. This chapter looks at the development of antidepressant treatments, starting with early interventions such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). Although these treatments t...
IntroductionExtant literature suggests that anhedonia, defined as a loss of the ability to feel pleasure or interest, is subserved by dysregulation of reward processing in the central nervous system. Dextromethorphan (DXM), an uncompetitive N-Methyl-d-Aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist and sigma-1 (σ1) receptor agonist, is a glutamatergic modulator with an...
Chronic pain and mood disorders co-occur, exacerbate one another and share neurobiological mechanisms, but whether a single intervention could promptly alleviate both conditions remains unclear. Here, in two chronic pain models, we show that a single dose of psilocybin induces a rapid and sustained reversal of both mechanical allodynia and anxiodepression-li...
Electromagnetic field theories of consciousness propose that consciousness emerges from resonant electromagnetic field interactions rather than purely computational neural processes. This paper examines how psychedelic substances-LSD, psilocybin, ketamine, and 5-MeO-DMT-modulate consciousness through their effects on brain electromagnetic fields, as measured...
The serotonin 2C receptor (5-HT2C) is a G protein-coupled receptor implicated in multiple physiological and psychological processes and has been investigated as a therapeutic target for neuropsychiatric conditions such as obesity, drug abuse, and depression. With renewed interest in serotonergic psychedelics for treating depression, 5-HT2C may contribute to ...
The stresses of the Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic highlighted the burden of psychiatric disorders within the pediatric population, revealing a pre-existing need for rapid-onset therapies that have since driven efforts to expand effective therapeutic interventions. In this narrative review, we utilized the Preferred Reporting Items for Syste...
Major depressive disorder is a debilitating condition, with many patients unresponsive to conventional monoaminergic antidepressants. Rapid-acting antidepressants such as ketamine and psilocybin offer promising alternatives, relieving symptoms within hours. Ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, and psilocybin, a serotonergic psychedelic primarily targeting ...
OBJECTIVE: Psychedelics are able to trigger highly intense and profound alterations in self-consciousness, perception, affective, and cognitive processes. Indeed, recent studies show that ketamine and psilocybin could be used as fast-acting antidepressants. However, the molecular and neurochemical mechanisms of these psychedelics and their actions at the lev...
Psychiatric disorders are marked by habitual patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior, and many mental health disorders are resistant to standard treatments (1)(2)(3)(4). For example, symptoms of major depressive disorder include ruminative negative thoughts, pervasive sadness, and lack of goaldirected behavior (5)(6)(7). Similarly, many anxiety and trauma...
After decades of limited progress in depression treatment, recent advancements have sparked renewed interest in developing novel antidepressants, particularly rapid-acting antidepressants (RAADs). Despite these promising developments, there remains a significant gap in research on bipolar depression. While several antipsychotics have been investigated for th...
Background/Objectives: Non-response to initial treatment options for major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common clinical challenge with profound deleterious impacts for affected patients. Few treatments have received regulatory approval for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Methods: A systematic search of United States and European Union clinical trials...
Background: The phenomenon of treatment-resistant depression (TRD) remains a problem in the sphere of mental health treatment since the majority of patients do not experience positive effects while receiving traditional treatments. Newer therapies are ketamine infusion therapy for depression, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and psilocybin-assisted psychot...
